Florals

Just the mention of floral decor will often bring our dear grannies to mind—or at least their living rooms, trimmed with pansy wallpaper borders and rose-clad tea sets. But then someone young and modern freshens up our image of florals and our passion for pansies is rekindled. This is probably what the buyers at Anthropologie, the retail chain that forever encapsulates the cool, vintage edge of granny chic, thought of artist Bridgette Thornton when they spied her botanical prints on their sales floor.

How the prints got there is a long, wending tale, but the gist is a third-party art distributor picked up the 26-year-old artist’s work and arranged the sale of several of her illustrations in Anthro stores. Fortunately, the artwork piqued the artist collaboration team’s interest—and a capsule housewares collection was launched. It was everything Bridgette had worked toward since first visiting an Anthropologie store as a teenager. An avid believer in vision boards, she might even tell you she “manifested” the collection. And now that Nordstrom carries a curated assortment of Anthropologie Home, you can find and buy the whimsical, colorful pieces—from throw pillows and quilts to dishware and phone cases—on our site.

We recently caught up with the Bay Area native to discuss inspiration and career motivation. Oh, and picnic menus—seeing as the collection’s melamine dishes literally deliver summer parties on a platter. (Bridgette and her boyfriend even created a delightful dining-al-fresco video for our viewing pleasure!)

Who can go from sharp sport-chic to sheer florals within the space of a runway show? In other words, what’s spring fashion’s version of zero to 60?Topshop Unique.

In a spring ’15 presentation that started and ended with the darling Ms. Delevingne, the Brits managed to rev up with racing stripes, performance details and a color mix of primary tones, baby blue and deep, rich wine. Adding a ruffle here and a ruffle there—and a measure of au natural abstraction along the way—they rounded the corner right into nighttime sheers and racy lace.

Check out our highlight reel—make that highlight GIF—presented today in celebration of our edit on all this, which is available now at Nordstrom.

Depending on what part of the planet you live on, you might be looking at those potted orchids in high-end grocery stores right now and thinking, “Those guys know how to live.” The very idea of a hothouse flower is ultra-alluring right about now.

How to replicate that warmth and exotic beauty in the pre-holiday doldrums? We think the Marni collections are a pretty darn good place to start.

It got us wondering, actually, what her favorite stems and blossoms are. So we asked her.

“My three favorite flowers are peonies for colour and perfume, hydrangea for form and colors—such as pink, green and fading blue—and then white and pink tulips,” she told us via email. (Which explains this excellent Marni tulip tunic.)

Our favorite flower, if you’re wondering, is the killer abstracted mokara on that tough-sporty biker jacket. Yes, please. Does it come in a bouquet?

Our spring plants are finally in their pots, and we can’t wait for the flowery, fragrant results of our labors. In the meantime, we’ll be wearing lots of botanical styles—festooned with bold blooms, painterly petals, delicate Liberty prints and whimsical floral shapes.

Valentino Nappa Floral - Medium Leather Tote

It’s impossible to pick a favorite, so here are just a few of our favorite items to freshen up your spring look.